Grazed Knees
by kindofcute
Summary: A vigorous training session leads to an almost kiss between Percy and Annabeth. But multiple evens winds up with Annabeth storming off. While she is gone, monsters attack Percy and he is brought to a slave house. Warning: Graphic violence
1. Chapter 1

Warning: Rated for graphic violence, dub con and language!**  
**

Summary:_ A vigorous training session leads to an almost kiss between Percy and Annabeth. But multiple events winds up with Annabeth storming off. While she is gone, monsters attack Percy and he is brought to a slave house. _:O_  
_

Characters: Mostly Gen (Percy) with Percabeth glimpses. They're 16 in this story.

FYI: I've only read the first book and seen the film, so **the characters are a bit OOC** And I guess you could safely say it's an **AU to the POJ series.** Also, I should warn you that English is not my first language... But my dad is English so hopefully it's not _too_ bad. Also; first fic etc etc. OK, all excuses out of the way, now on with the story :D

* * *

---

**"Grazed knees"**

_"Something happened, that I never understood  
You can't leave  
Every second, dripping off my fingertips  
Wage your war  
Another soldier, says he's not afraid to die  
_

_Well I am scared..."*_

---

**_---_****Chapter one:_ 'I Look Away'__---_**

He looked so young and helpless the first time she saw him. He was laying unconscious in his sickbed and Annabeth could remember the feeling of disappointment over the fact that this boy was supposed to be _The One_ from Chiron's prophecy. He was so pale and weak looking. This was not how she had envisioned him. But then he opened his eyes and everything changed. A pair of clear, sea green eyes staring up at her, wide with panic. Annabeth caught herself taking a short breath and taking a step back. He was looking to her for answers or words of comfort, but all Annabeth could do was to look down at her shoes, hoping he hadn't noticed her blushing.

---

Annabeth was a loyal daughter. Her mother hated the boy's father, so naturally she would hate the son. The plan didn't go quite as smoothly as she had hoped though. He was too brave, too humble, too caring...

In the beginning, Annabeth had thought he looked a little young, but there was no doubt that the boy was cute. And in addition he had a quirky sense of humor and a sort of clumsy charm that was impossible not to like. And his eyes, well, they just messed up everything.

She had tried so hard to not make it show that she liked him. And although she hated to admit it she liked the way he looked at her, his eyes filled with admiration at her fighting skills and knowledge.

She had always been rough with him during training, a lot rougher than she should have been perhaps. She just wanted him to respect her; she wanted him to keep looking at her the way he did.

* * *

A few years and a lot of experiences later, Annabeth and Percy were best friends now. He was taller and broader, a little anyways, and not as easy to beat during training as before. The truth was, it was nearly impossible.

Annabeth had been struggling all week. It was as if she was at a stand still with her training. And that Saturday morning during an early training session with Percy, was no different.

She had woken up at 6 in the morning with a gasp and a hammering heart from a horrible nightmare. In her dream she had been too weak to protect Percy from a giant spider, and it had ended up killing the both of them. Annabeth didn't take nightmares lightly.

With her heart still pounding in her chest, she had turned up at Percy's cabin at 7 in the morning demanding he'd come practice with her.

His messy black hair was sticking up at all angles and he was barely awake as he stood there squinting at her.

When she told him about her nightmare he was not at all listening. He was sort of swaying on the spot, contemplating whether he was awake or still dreaming. Apparently he decided on the latter, for in the next second his eyes closed and he looked like he was about to fall over.

"You have to come practice with me!" Annabeth blurted and Percy's eyes flared open again.

"Jesus christ, Annabeth" He had croaked "It's Saturday" He blinked a few times and scrunched up his face in confusion "It's not even light out, are you alright?"

"Come on Seaweedbrain!" Annabeth said a little louder and reached out to grab his arm. "Time to practice"

Percy dodged her grasp to lean against the door frame and yawn widely. He rubbed his face roughly and looked at her gloomily, sleep still swimming in his eyes.

"You're not normal" Percy said hoarsely.

He looked really cute, but her nightmare was still fresh in her mind and Annabeth didn't have time for this right now. She reached out and grabbed a hold of his t-shirt and started dragging him out the door.

"Come on Seaweedbrain, don't be lazy" She commanded.

"Can I at least put on some pants?" Percy mumbled confused as he stumbled after her into the chilly morning.

* * *

An hour later they were well into it.

Annabeth in full battle gear, Percy barefooted, only wearing a pair of tattered jeans hanging so low on his narrow hips they looked like they were about to fall off him and a gray t-shirt that appropriately said "HELL NO!" In large green letters.

Although Percy had been half asleep earlier, his senses were fully alert now. And Annabeth was struggling. She could not get to him. When she swung her sword at him, he was too quick and parried her away her weapon. She was drenched in sweat while Percy on the other hand looked annoyingly unaffected.

The whole week had felt like an endless struggle and it was getting to her. She felt like she was almost getting worse. Chiron had tried telling her that it was just a stage of her progression; it meant that she was getting better. But it didn't feel like she was progressing at all and right then she was getting more and more frustrated with herself. She was also highly annoyed that Percy didn't seem to struggle at all.

In a moment of distraction Annabeth suddenly felt her sword fly out of her hands. In the next second Percy had a firm grip on her and his sword was pointed directly at her throat.

But Annabeth wasn't about to give up. There was always a way out of a fight if you just used your brain. She could read in Percy's facial expression and the way he was loosening his grip on her that he was under the impression that they were finished training. He should have known better.

She acted on her reflexes and landed a hard kick into his unprotected stomach. While Percy crouched over gasping for air she landed another kick to his arm and his weapon flew out of his hand. Pleased with herself Annabeth swiftly picked up her own sword before running over to get Percy's weapon. But just as she reached for it a large spider crawled across the handle. She winced and jumped back, and in the next second Percy was there to grab it.

It wasn't fair.

Annabeth felt tears pressing behind her eyes from pure disappointment in herself. She couldn't do anything right! It was like the whole universe was against her.

She was breathing hard through her nose as she glared at Percy. He was slightly hunched over with one arm hugging his middle, but non the less he was holding his sword firmly in front of him ready to continue.

She felt a little bad. She knew Percy would never have done the same to her. He had never laid a hand on her like that, and he never got mad at her when she hurt him by accident and sometimes even on purpose. He simply let the water heal him and continued fighting without a word of complaint.

Annabeth glanced down at his bare feet standing in the wet grass. His jeans were wet up to his knees. His t-shirt was ripped a few places from previous training sessions. She remembered that t-shirt. It had been a gift from Grover and her a few years back. It was a bit too short on him now.

She could see in Percy's face that he wanted to go. A light breeze played with his black hair and he shivered a little.

When Annabeth charged him once again, Percy simply stood there, and let her crash into him. The impact sent them flying to the ground.

Annabeth scrambled to get on top of Percy and pinned his arms over his head. They stared at each other in silence while trying to catch their breaths. His wide eyes had such a clear quality to them and the color never seized to hypnotize her.

"You win" Percy panted and smiled.

It was difficult to remain clearheaded when she was this close to his face. His lips were slightly parted and she could feel his warm breath against her face. She shook her head and snapped out of it.

"No, I didn't" She said angrily, pressing his wrists hard against the ground and glaring down at him. "You let me win on purpose"

He laughed a strained laugh while trying to shift his position underneath her weight.

"Why would I do that?" He asked, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Why couldn't he see that she was serious? Annabeth was not playing.

She tightened the grip she had on his waist with her thighs and pressed his wrists down with her hands.

"OK" He whimpered breathless, "I've clearly done something to upset you"

He drew his eyebrows together and looked up at her in disbelief, like he was still trying to figure out if she was being serious or not. He was visibly at a loss of what was going on.

But Annabeth had so much anger and disappointment built up inside from the previous week. If felt really, really good to to let it out on Percy...

"You always let me win!" She spat.

He looked confused for a minute. As if he genuinely didn't know what she was talking about. "...What?" He said "I don't always win. You just don't like it when I do!"

He made another feeble attempt of trying to shake her off him. Annabeth wasn't heavy but she was in full armor and she was strong and using all her strength to hold him down. Percy was starting to feel very uncomfortable, and it was starting to show in his expression. "OK, this has been awesome, but you're kind of hurting me. Could you please get off?"

"No." She said stubbornly, "Not until you admit that you let me win out of pity"

"Out of what?... Annabeth, come on" Percy groaned. "Even if I did let you win, which I didn't, that's considered polite."

"No, its not, its insulting" She pressed on. "I don't need any favors from you. How am I going to get better if you keep letting me win?"

Percy looked at her; his mouth hanging open and eyes wide in bewilderment, "I don't always win you lunatic. If that spider wouldn't have..."

"You don't have any disadvantages like that!" Annabeth retorted.

At that moment Percy seemed to give up.

"Yeah, ok..." He mumbled and rolled his eyes, before his head lolled to the side and he stared longingly towards camp where everyone else was enjoying their breakfast by now. Or sleeping comfortably in their beds.

Seeing that Percy was clearly annoyed with her, made Annabeth's pulse quicken and only seemed to heighten her desperation. She knew it was time to let him go, she'd gone to far. She was letting all her anger out on Percy. And Percy was the last person she wanted to hurt.

Percy looked wearily back up at her, his eyebrows drawn up in his forehead. "Are you finished?"

He looked like he was seriously sick and tired of her. It freaked Annabeth out and again she acted on her reflexes. She grabbed her sword swiftly and pointed it directly at his throat.

"Whoa, you're not taking this a bit far are you?" Percy said throwing his hands up.

She got up to her feet unsteadely, the sword still pointing at Percy's throat.

_Put the sword down!_ Annabeth tried to command her arm. It wouldn't listen.

"Annabeth." Percy started "Seriously. I'm sorry if I offended you by letting you win. It's just that I'm really fucking hungry and I knew you were never going to stop. I'm sorry, OK? I know how you get when.. UNH!"

She cut him off my placing a foot on his chest.

"Jesus Christ Annabeth, so you had a bad week!" Percy spat. "Remember last week when I had a bad weak and everyone, even Jack, kept beating my ass?"

"That was last week," Annabeth said, her voice was weak, and her arm was shaking.

"Fine" He sighed wearily. "I'm truly sorry I gave up on you today. I really am"

His sea green eyes were gleaming with genuine regret, when what he should have done was pushed her away a long time ago and stormed off.

Annabeth couldn't fight the tears pressing behind her eyes any longer. She had gone too far this time. A feeling of intense remorse was starting to grow inside of her. Her fatal flaw; _hubris_, or _deadly pride_, had shown its ugly face once again. It wasn't the first time. And now he was going to hate her forever. She threw the sword to the side and sunk down on the ground beside Percy.

"I'm sorry..." She wisphered.

_For the love of Hera, don't you cry!_ Annabeth thought to herself, while she tried to swallow the annoying lump that had formed in her throat.

She heard him sitting up behind her before she could feel him tugging gently at her ponytail.

"It's ok" His voice was soft. He put his warm hand on her arm. It felt really, really good. His touch always brought her comfort and she felt a tingling sensation in her stomach.

She could be so ridiculous at times, why did he put up with her? She turned around and let him guide her towards him. He clumsily brushed some hair away from her face.

"Your hands are dirty" She complained and pushed him gently away.

"There you go again" Percy grinned and let himself fall back, arms up, as if she had pushed him really hard.

Damn it, he wasn't supposed to let her go. But in the next moment he grabbed her arm and pulled her firmly towards him. She slammed on top of him with a huff. He wrapped his arms around her and Annabeth rested her head on his shoulder.

"Sorry" Annabeth said quietly after a while, "I don't know what got into me"

"You just had a bad week" Percy said and pulled her face into his dirty hands to looked at her. He squinted his eyes and turned her head this way and that in his hands, as if her head was an object he was investigating. It made her giggle "You know you're my favorite sparing partner, right?"

Was he speaking? She could see that his lips were moving. She was thankful that she was wearing her armor, or else he would have noticed her hammering heart.

"When I train with you," Percy continued "it's like I'm in a real scrap and I actually have to use my brain to get out alive. I mean, you think you give it all... I do too."

She wasn't used to thinking that guys could be _beautiful_, but Percy really was. He had dark eyebrows slightly arched above his clear eyes. And even though he had quite a boyish face, his cheekbones and jaw line were defined enough. He had a small nose and his lips were full and really soft looking. He wasn't handsome in a manly way like Luke. Even though Percy had grown significantly since she'd first seen him, he still had that adorable boyish face. She just loved everything about it, and she figured she could stare at him forever and never get tired.

She suddenly remembered the fact that she was being watched. By the boy she was daydreaming about.

She snapped out of it quickly and shook his hands away, 'Yeah, of course" She stammered and cleared her voice "I know that!" She wasn't sure exactly what he'd said.

Percy arched an eyebrow and laughed "Oh, ok wisegirl. Sure"

Annabeth bit her lip, "I'm sorry I kicked you" She said and rolled off him. She propped herself up on her elbow beside him and carefully placed her hand on his flat stomach and started rubbing it gently. She was surprised at her own move, she'd never done something like that before, it had just felt like the natural thing to do.

He seemed to be enjoying her touch, or at least he didn't tell her to stop. She could feel her pulse rising rapidly.

Percy crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. "Everyone has flaws. You're afraid of spiders. And, you know, the other thing that I'm probably not supposed to mention because then you'll get mad at me, and you'll stop doing that thing you're doing with your hand right now, and I don't want you to stop..." The end part of his sentence he said with less confidence.

Annabeth wasn't about to get mad because she didn't want to stop either. It was really intriguing touching him. Especially in a way that he seemed to be enjoying. She wondered if he'd like it if she moved her hand underneath his shirt...

She slowly let her hand slip underneath his shirt. She felt very brave but avoided his eyes.

His skin felt warm and very soft. But he was kind of bony, there wasn't a gram of fat on his body. When she moved her hand up to his chest she could feel his ribs underneath her fingers, kind of poking through his skin. But he was starting to develop some muscle. And he had a nice natural built. He wasn't exactly big, like Luke. But who cared, she liked his body. _A lot..._

"And my flaw is..." Percy mumbled, reminding her that they were having some kind of conversation. He was speaking in a low hoarse voice now. Annabeth found it strangely attractive.

Their eyes met for a second, but they both looked away quickly. When Annabeth glanced back, Percy was looking up at the sky above, following the billowing clouds with his eyes as they rapidly changed shape.

"You're... Pretty and it's kind of distracting at times" He admitted.

She removed her hand from his body to bring it up to his face. She was shaking a little bit and the look that he was giving her made her weak on the inside. She put her hand on his face. His cheek also felt warm and soft, like the rest of him. She carefully let her hand run through his thick black hair. It felt soft between her fingers. It felt so good to touch him, it was so comfortable but also the most exciting thing she had ever done..

His eyes looked sort of drowsy but awake at the same time. She had never seen that expression on him before. His lips were slightly parted as he stared at hers. He looked so cute and different...

She suddenly caught herself leaning down instinctively. His warm breath was on her face again, making her head swim.

Then a horrible thing happened, reminding her that once again that this was not her week. It was her damned battle reflexes reacting before she could understand what was going on. She had felt something crawling up her arm. It was definitely not an ant, it was something bigger. She had remembered the spider from earlier and screamed in fright and jumped back brushing her arm frantically while searching the ground for the spider, when it suddenly deemed on her. She held her breath and glanced up.

Percy was sitting upright on the ground, staring wide-eyed at her, his arm sort of hanging in the air in front of him.

"I'm sorry" He stuttered, "I just thought you were going to..." He put his hand away quickly. "I misunderstood"

The thing that felt bigger than an ant had been Percy's hand. Of course. He had been trying to caressing her.

_No! No no no no!_ She wanted him to touch her more than anything in the world! She wanted to turn back time more than ever. And also hit herself senseless for ruining everything.

"I thought you were a spider" She croaked.

"That's what my hand feels like to you? Your biggest fear?" Percy sounded crushed.

He jumped up to his feet. "You can't just!... I thought you were... I thought" Percy babbled and he put his hands at his waist as he started pacing in a circle. He looked embarrassed. And really fed up with everything that had happened. He stopped to glare at her, "Maybe next time brush your teeth, because I... I didn't..."

Annabeth felt her heart sinking in her chest. She got up to her feet and stood before him.

He had stopped pacing and stood staring back at her. His eyebrows were pulled up in his forehead and all the anger had vanished from his face. He opened his mouth as to speak, but Annabeth had already turned and was on her way back to camp.

* * *

The monsters appeared out of thin air.

And before Percy could comprehend what was going on someone had thrown a blanket over him and as something hard slammed into the side of his face everything went black.

***

* * *

_Thank you so much for reading! I'm sorry if it was filled with grammar mistakes, but as I said, English is not my first language. But if you like the story I'll be happy to continue it! :D_

_Disclaimer: Characters belong to Rick Riordan._

_*1 - Far lyrics by Snow Patrol_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and not being too hard on my grammar. I have to admit the reviews were highly effective to get me to sit down and continue writing... 'Gratia Donatus' - I'm so sorry I can't get Annabeth quite right. I probably should have finished the series before sitting down and writing the fic. But thanks for reviewing. I'll try my hardest not make her too much into a Mary Sue. 'Myfriendscallmecrazy' - I've ordered them in English yay! :DD I refuse to read in my own language :(  
_

**Warning ahoy: **If you don't like angst, this is not for you, jsyk... **  
**

* * *

_**---Chapter two: 'Somewhere a Clock is Ticking'---**_

_"Doors slam shut_  
_ A clock is ticking, but it's hidden far away_  
_ Safe and sound_

_I'm broken and I'm colder than hell"*_

_---  
_

Percy woke up to a splitting headache and uttered a pained yelp.

As he tried to reach for his bruised head he noticed the chains stopping him. He was half sitting half laying up against a pole and his hands were wrapped around it and chained at the back.

Then he noticed a familiar stench.

Panic started to raise in his chest.

It was so appalling it made his eyes water. He gagged and tried not to breath through his nose. It was the unmistakable smell of monsters. Percy fought to remain calm as he blinked the room into focus.

The first thing that came to mind when he saw the hard wooden floors and walls was that it looked kind of like a stable, but it was much too big. There was no electrical light, so it was hard to distinguish the surroundings exactly. The room was only lit up by a torch hanging on the wall, besides that everything was black.

But he could make out shapes of other people sitting all around him.

They all seemed to be sitting up against poles around the room, just like him. As far as Percy could tell the poles made out a sort of a half circle. And they were facing a large opening, like they were sitting in a booth. He couldn't make out what was on the outside of the booth as everything beyond that point was an empty darkness. All he knew for certain was that they were inside some kind of space that reeked of monsters. And he needed to get the hell out.

Percy had learned from previous experiences that if you find yourself chained up in a strange room with other people who were quiet, it was best to follow their example.

But he really needed to find out where he was.

Last thing he remembered was seeing Annabeth stomping off towards camp and then everything went black and he woke up here.

Apart from his sore skull he felt a little banged up, but his limbs seemed to function. His eyes were getting used to the dark by now. He was just as clueless about the surroundings, but he could see the two people sitting on either side of him more clearly.

To his left sat an elderly man and to his right, a young girl. The man seemed to be sleeping and the girl was slumped up against her pole with her head resting on her knees and her arms clutched around her thin legs.

When Percy strained his ears he could hear the low murmur of crying. He hadn't noticed it before partly because of his headache and partly because it was so constant, almost like the noise from an air conditioner. But the crying was coming from everywhere, like a pitiful echo bouncing off the walls around him. Percy felt a chill down his back as it gave the room an even more creepy atmosphere.

_Where the hell was he?_

Far off someone seemed to be praying, but not in a language he could understand. He had a gut feeling they were in some kind of large warehouse that contained several of these booths. He wondered just how many people were locked up in this place and why. He needed to ask somebody, but he figured he better wait until he was certain there weren't any monsters around.

Some time had passed and the situation hadn't really changed. No monsters had appeared.

It was time to have some questions answered, he couldn't stand this much longer. He was getting antsy; Percy had never been one to sit still for long.

"Hey, girl!" He whispered into the dark towards the girl sitting to his right.

The girl looked up swiftly, Percy could see the terror in her eyes. She was blond with light eyes. She looked almost ghost like. She was young, maybe 9 years old, and really dirty and her clothes were torn and really old fashioned, almost like she was wearing a costume from another period in time.

She was shaking her head vigorously at him. He felt bad for making her more scared than she already was.

"Look, I'm sorry!" Percy whispered, "But can you please just tell me were we are!"

"Ikke snakk!" The girl hissed back.

_Great_, Percy thought, _she didn't speak English._

The girl had gone back to her previous position of burying her head in her knees.

"Anyone speak English?" Percy asked a little louder into the room. He was getting desperate

Again all he got was hushing.

Percy was getting annoyed. He understood they were playing the sit still and be quiet game; or else something scary would probably kill you. They were in grave danger, he knew the drill, he just really wanted to know what he was afraid of. He was not about to wait until he starved to death or a monster came to kill him.

"Boy!" A hoarse voice suddenly whispered from his left.

Finally.

Percy turned his head swiftly towards the sound; the old man with the long white beard to his left was looking at him. He didn't look angry, just really scared and he kept glancing upwards. "Not speak!"

He had a strong accent, Percy couldn't quite place it. It sounded European, maybe Swiss. He was wearing a beige robe tied together at his waist with a golden rope.

"Please, sir..." Percy started but the man cut him off.

"Tomorrow! Quiet now!" The man lifted his chained arms and put a finger to his mouth. Then he pointed upwards with his fist, before leaning back against his pole and remained still.

Percy thought for a second he'd imagined the whole thing.

Desperate he pulled his chains and moved around his pole to face the man. "Please sir, just tell me what is going on!"

Then he learned why everyone were quiet.

It was like the strong arms came out of nothing. There had been no forewarning, no sound, no footsteps, no shadow.

Suddenly a claw like hand curled around his neck and lifted him clean off the ground.

Percy spluttered and gasped for air and tried desperately to slip out of the grip, but when he swung his feet out into the dark he hit nothing but air. It was like the arms were coming from above somewhere. In the next second he heard his chain click open and he was slammed hard into the hardwood floors with a grunt. He tried to roll around but strong arms pushed him onto his back on the floor and his arms were yanked forcefully above his head and held down.

Percy stared in terror at the strange black shape hovering above on top of the pole.

He hadn't noticed them before. It looked like a bird that was somehow part of his pole and it used its long claws to hold him down.

The next moment it released a piercing shriek and then heavy footsteps were moving down the hall.

With a hammering heart Percy tried to do everything to get free of the claws holding him down, but his attempts were feeble. It was like fighting a crane with a straight jacket; impossible.

And then the guard stood over him, his yellow eyes gleaming in the dark. It looked like a large cave troll, only more humanized and uglier, if possible.

He had a flashlight, which he pointed up in Percy's face.

"Shut your mouth!" The troll wheezed as he grabbed a handful of Percy's hair and held his head down as he leaned over for a closer look.

Percy blinked against the blinding light.

"You're the new kid" The troll mumbled and immediately jabbed his finger into Percy's mouth to inspect his teeth. Percy tried to bite down, but his jaw was locked. The guard seemed to be experienced with this kind of thing, and knew all the tricks.

"Excellent teeth." The troll said as he released Percy's hair. He seemed to be in a better mood now.

The troll moved his flashlight up Percy's arms and felt around them as to see how strong they were. He then continued down to Percy's body and legs and sort of grasped around him everywhere too measure up his muscle mass.

"Not much to you, but I'm sure King Arvid will like you. He likes disorderly pretty-boys" The guard grinned. The flash light was back in Percy's face.

"I'm sixteen" Percy hissed, "There must be some regulations..."

The troll snorted, "You're from the modern times, I can tell by your teeth"

Percy suddenly hated his dentist for making him wear braces as a kid.

"You're not in your world anymore, boy!" The troll bellowed. "You're in Mid World*. We get customers from every time period and place. Time is irrelevant here. King Arvid is from 900 AD, this is a slave house my boy, the best in the universe!" He said proudly.

Percy felt all the blood drench from his face. He remembered the Lotus Casino where time stood still and how days felt like a couple of minutes. His heart sunk in his chest.

"I'll get a lot for you." The troll wheezed "Most of the runts that come in here are aren't worth much. Seems like my spies finally hit the jackpot" He meant to give Percy a pet on his cheek, but it felt more like being slapped.

"I always get more for people from the modern world. You're all in such good health!"

He preceded to open one of Percy's eyes with two fingers. He nodded pleased.

"Green eyes, good teeth, pretty face..." It was like he was checking off a list, and Percy almost fainted from the trolls foul breath. "King Arvid is after a new plaything, he'll be paying a lot for you."

_King who??_ Percy felt panic rising, he was not about to be sold to an ancient Viking king. He started trashing on the floor but without accomplishing anything. Before the guard left he gave some sort of hand signal to the black bird on the pole before turning to Percy with a grin, "Let's hope you make me rich!"

And then the arms went to work on him.

A fist slammed into his face, over and over, cracking his nose and his jaw.

Percy tried to tune out the cracking sounds as his ribs and bones broke and tried to focus on breathing.

Blood was running freely from wounds all over his body and from his nose.

It filled up his mouth as a fist crushed into his kidneys. Eventually he fell into a blissful darkness, where all he could see was Annabeth's beautiful face.

---

Annabeth was sitting in the middle of Percy's room clutching one of Percy's old shirt. Even though it made Annabeth feel sick with grief she couldn't help but going back to his cabin to be amongst his thing. They were filled with dust by now. And the wind had strewn loose pages and leaves all over the floor. She brought up the shirt she was holding to her face and inhaled.

She loved his smell more than anything, it used to make her head swim. Now it was fading.

She threw the shirt aside and clutched her fists. Even after all this time the grief over his loss hadn't gone away. Everyone had told her it would get easier, but it didn't!

Why had she run that day?

The same thoughts kept churning in her brain. She wished so much that it had been her and not Percy that had been taken. She just couldn't understand how, after such a long time, that they hadn't even found as much as a clue to what had happened. But he had to be somewhere. Someday, she would find him.

---

The pain Percy felt when he woke up was unbearable.

He was barely able to breath. In his dazed state of mind he could see someone was over him, it was an old man with a long white beard and kind eyes. Percy's eyes must have been badly bruised because he could barely see through them. The man's lips were moving, as if he was trying to tell him something and his ice cold hands had a healing effect on Percy's bruised skin.

It all came rushing back to Percy. He didn't understand how he could still be alive after that beating. He had taken a few beatings in his short life, and that had by far been the worst. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck.

He was stuck in hell. And back in his world the clock was ticking. He would probably never see Annabeth or Grover or Half Blood Hill again.

---

Percy fell in and out of an oblivious state and every time he opened his eyes, the old man was there. And every time he felt a little better. Eventually his head was clear enough to understand that the old man was dripping water over him. Percy whimpered in pleasure as he felt the water soak though his skin and mend his wounds and broken bones.

---

In his unconscious state before, Percy had thought that the old man had been set free to mend him, but it turned out that that had not been the case.

When the other prisoners had been fed that morning, they had gathered the little water they had been given and handed it over to the old man. The old man had the longest chains out of all of the prisoners, probably because he was the least threat, and could get to Percy to help him. Somehow he had understood that Percy could be healed with water. How he could have known, was the last thing on Percy's mind. Right then, to Percy, the old man looked like the nicest grandfather ever, kind of like Socrates*.

He kept talking to Percy in his own language, it brought him comfort even though he couldn't understand. And he petted Percy's head as he dripped drops of water over the wound on Percy's face.

"It's quite extraordinary" The man murmured "I have never seen anything like it"

Percy was too tired to talk, but he could feel his strength returning little by little.

"Birds are turned back to stone now, not to worry" The old man continued.

Percy tried to smile but it made him whimper in pain.

"Så, så" The man shushed him "Lay still" He said as he pushed Percy's t-shirt back to pour water over his bruised stomach. Percy winced a little but sighed relieved as the pain gradually disappeared.

Then he ripped a loose thread off of his robe and held it up before Percy's eyes, "Here, you wear this!"

"Err... Thanks" Percy croaked while looking at the minuscule thread. His clothes had been ripped to shreds by the claws, but this... Percy looked at the man perplexed. It was an odd time to try and be funny.

The man simply smiled and put the thread on Percy's chest and sat back. He looked pleased with himself. Percy would have chuckled if his face didn't hurt so much and it was an entirely different setting. But then suddenly he felt a tingling sensation on his chest as his clothes started weaving themselves back into shape. Percy had experienced strange things in his life, so he wasn't really surprised, but very thankful. _  
_

After being fed some mashed potato and some unidentified goo that tasted like the inside of a shoe, Percy felt his eyes glide shut and he fell into a swift sleep. It felt like years had gone past since the training session with Annabeth on Half Blood Hill.

----

Percy awoke with a start only a few hours later. The room seemed to have woken up by then.

It was as if the sound from the few hours before had been turned up to max volume. Percy figured the shop was open and costumers were arriving.

The room was a little lighter now, as if sunlight had creaked though windows, not that he could see any, but it felt like it was early morning.

The old man was back at his own pole and Percy had been chained up again at some point. Instinctively he pulled at his chains to see if maybe he could slip out of them. But he quickly remembered the birds and glanced up quickly to the top of his pole. The black bird was sitting there silently like a gargoyle. It had turned into stone, like the old man had said, but it left Percy cold and he felt watched. He pressed his back up against his pole and tried to sit very still.

He felt better. Not great, but his body was functioning again. Which was good news should he pursue his plan of escaping. In unhappier news, he remembered the conversation with the guard, and the viking king that apparently wanted to have Percy as his personal _plaything_. Percy shuddered in disgust. And then in the next moment he could hear several footsteps down the hall outside.

Percy swallowed and felt his pulse rising in panic. With a hammering heart he turned to look at the old man. The man met his gaze and nodded. He pointed to his own eyes and closed them shut. Then he opened them again to look at Percy to see if he had understood. Percy nodded. Then the old man slumped into a position that made him look weak and old. Percy understood, he tried to mimic the man's position. And as the guard rounded the corner with a batch of customers Percy pressed his eyes shut and tried to sit very still.

---

Thanks for reading! :)


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you so much to: Miss Brandy Black, Rockyrocks919, Kirby77DP77, Mysterious 'Anonymous' persons, anna, LAoR, katherine, Hannah Brandon 1234321, That Lovely Bad One, hazelbunny, Gratia Donatus and myfriendscallmecrazy ;) and everyone else who reviewed after the first chapter as well. Even though it's been a bit mixed. OK, next chapter, I'm a bit nervous about this one! *rocks back and forth*_

**Warning: Dub con and language  
**

* * *

**_---Chapter 3: 'I Run'---_**

_---_**_  
_**

_"__Curled up and joyless, we try once again"*_

_---  
_

The guard and a customer were standing in the middle of the room discussing in a language Percy didn't understand.

It was almost unbearable not opening your eyes to see what was going on. But the old man's orders had been simple; pretend to be sick or dead and they might skip you and you might survive.

_For now_, Percy had thought to himself. He hadn't said it out loud because he knew that everyone was thinking the same thing. If you weren't bought, you were still stuck in 'hell central', where you might starve to death or beaten to death by the birds. Percy shuddered thinking about the birds. Neither option seemed appealing to Percy. He needed to get out. He was going to escape one way or another.

But he had to have patience and wait for the right moment.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the old man started to shout. Percy flared open his eyes to see him crawling on his hands and knees towards the guard and the customer, looking like he was begging them.

Percy could see the visible irritation in the guards yellow eyes. so he immediately started banging his chain against the pole to try and direct the attention to him instead.

Percy winced as the guard kicked the old man aside and started walking towards the little girl. He preceded to grasp around her blond hair and lifted her clean off the floor. She didn't scream, it was obvious that she was in a state of shock. Her lips were moving rapidly, like she was talking to herself and all the color was drenched from her ghostly face.

"Hey you, Ugly!" Percy shouted on the top of his lungs, it was clear why the old man had caused such a stir. The customer wanted the girl, Percy was not about to let that happen. "You ugly fat piece of shit troll! Let her go or I'll fucking kill you!"

That seemed to work. The guard released the girl who fell back to the floor. She curled into a ball by her pole and continued rocking back and forth.

The guard turned to face Percy with a furious expression. Not only had the guard been humiliated but the customer had gotten impatient and left.

Two wins for Percy. Only problem now was the furious guard...

As the guard charged at Percy, Percy kicked out his with his legs just in time. The guard went crashing to the floor and Percy tried to move around the pole and lifted his legs ready to kick again. As the troll scrambled up to his knees and came crawling back at Percy, Percy was ready and kicked out with his legs; this time managing to hit the guard directly in the face. The other cellmates started cheering. The guard on the other hand was fuming. He was cursing furiously, holding his broken nose.

The third time, however, the guard managed to dodge Percy's legs. He grabbed Percy's throat and slammed him against the pole, leaving Percy breathless.

The troll was snarling curses into Percy's face and lifted his gigantic fist ready to throw a punch. Percy clenched his teeth and looked away, redying himself for the fist that was about to slam into him. The guards fingers were full of rings and sharp jewelry. Percy knew one strike by his fist would surely knock him unconscious, if not crush his skull.

"Hvaða ert þ aðgerð?"* A loud voice suddenly roared from behind.

Percy; still holding his breath, opened an eye and looked behind the guard with a pounding heart.

It wasn't difficult to see that the gigantic, wild looking man was a royal. His attire was made up of silk and leather and he was wearing a large jeweled, gold crown on his head. He had two servants and some kind of troll looking creature trailing behind him. One servant was holding his golden shield while the other was carrying his long cloak. The troll had an iron ring around his neck, an indication that he was a slave too.

The guard cursed again, silently this time, and released Percy immediately before turning his head with a wide, fake smile to the King. Percy couldn't understand what they were saying but he recognized the name Arvid.

A cold shiver went through Percy as it deemed on him that this was the Viking king who was looking for a new_ plaything._

_This was it,_ Percy thought to himself. _This was his chance._

The guard ruffled Percy's hair roughly and play punched him on the chin before getting up and walking over to Arvid.

The king shouted something at the guard before walking into the hallway and disappearing around the corner with the apologetic guard trailing behind, his head hanging low.

"No!" Percy shouted after them, "Don't go!"

The Viking King was Percy's ticket out, _he couldn't leave now!_

"Boy!" The old man said in a hoarse voice "He's coming back for you"

Percy swallowed when he saw the broken old man; he hated to see old people in pain. There was blood around the old man's nose and his left eye looked a little bruised.

"Hey..." Percy said softly. "You ok?"

The man nodded. "You are very brave" He said with a mix of admiration and concern.

"What is your name?" The old man asked him as he scrambled up to his knees and started crawling over to sit by Percy.

"Percy" Percy said, "What's yours?"

"They will come back." The old man continued, "They will come to buy you soon and take you away. Why you do this?"

He sat on his knees in front of Percy, his chained hands folded in his lap, seeming not to understand why the young boy had offered himself up like that.

"You're so young" The old man said, his voice cracking.

Percy tried to smile, "Yeah... Don't worry, ok? I've been in worse situations before, trust me."

"I'm sorry" The man said and tears started dripping from his kind eyes.

"It's not your fault" Percy said, he wanted to touch the man's shoulder for comfort, or give him a hug, but there was little he could do with his arms chained up.

"Listen." He said instead. The king was about to come back, he didn't have much time. "Since the customers are coming and leaving, there must be portals transferring them to where they want to go, right?"

The man nodded slowly. "I remember man who nearly escaped, he talked of a magical portal that only opened for paying costumers. It takes you where you want to go, anywhere in time, but you have to do right or you'll end up in wrong year."

"What does that mean?" Percy knew he was in a place where time stood still, and he didn't know how it corresponded with his world. On Half Blood Hill. Percy had decided not to think about that. Surviving had been his main concern for now. But for all he knew, 40 years could have passed. And his world as he knew it could have changed completely.

"But it is possible to get back in the time you came from?" Percy asked his hope rising.

"Only if you have something given by an important person from the moment you vanished. And also..."

Percy sat up swiftly, his eyes wide "My t-shirt! Look!" he said looking down, pushing out his chest "The letters used to glow in the dark! Annabeth and Grover gave it to me for my thirteenth birthday!" He wanted to pump his fist in joy, but he was chained up so that would have to wait.

"Good" The man said, but he still looked at Percy with uncertainty.

"Right" Percy said quickly, his heart pacing at the good news. "I've been thinking that if someone buys me, at least I'll be free of this pole and the chains."

"What about the angry guard who is so angry with you?" The man started, "Guards are everywhere out in hall. I've seen them"

Percy bit his bottom lip as he looked into the man's face. "I know, but the guards are big and clumsy and the birds only work at night, right?"

The man nodded, "Birds work at night. Guards are also not smart, but very angry"

"Exactly" Percy said, "I'm small, and I'm quick and good at hiding. Trust me, I'll get us out. All of us!"

Percy could see he still didn't approve of this plan out of concern. But Percy was confident.

"You know the girl who give me this t-shirt?" Percy said shifting his position agitated "She's beautiful and I've got to apologize the her."

The old man looked at him sceptically.

"I said something rude and I have to apologize to her" Percy shrugged and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth.

Percy thought of Annabeth's face leaning in on him. Her beautiful lips so close to his, her breath against his face, until she had suddenly screamed and jumped back. It had nearly given Percy a heart attack. But he regretted what he'd said, it had been so childish.

The man looked like he didn't quite know what to think and simply said, "You have a good heart Percy. Find portal"

As the guard, the Viking king and his servants rounded the corner the old man scrambled back to his pole and Percy gritted his teeth and tried to push aside all thoughts of panic. He knew his plan could go terribly wrong if he didn't play it right. He only knew that somehow he had to get the King to buy him so he could be free of his chains and get to the portal.

Percy was released off his chains and an iron ring was place around his neck instead.

As Percy was dragged out into the hallway, stumbling after the guard who carried his chain, he turned one last time to look back at the cell and swore to himself that he would get everyone out. And he thought he saw the old man nod, as if he had read his thoughts.

---

The size of the place was almost breathtaking. The hallway seemed to go on forever in all directions. And they passed booth after booth that were filled with people and creatures, chained up to poles exactly like the one he had been held in. The hallway was busy with customers and guards and chained slaves stumbling after their new master. Percy wondered how on earth he was going to hide or run to if he even managed to escape.

---

Percy had been pushed into a new booth and there were several boys and girls in there. They seemed to be from different periods in time, Percy could tell by their clothes, but they all seemed to be around the same age.

They were placed in a line facing king Arvid; whom looked very pleased with the days catch. The guards who owned the different booths the kids had been picked from stood behind watching with dollar signs in their eyes, hoping their kid would be chosen by the powerful king.

The king started his inspection round. Some of the kids were pushed back and some remained for a second inspection.

The girl standing next to Percy was pushed back and then the gigantic man was suddenly standing in front of Percy.

Percy's legs were shaking, he just hoped they wouldn't falter beneath him.

_Picture Annabet, _Percy thought to himself when he did what he knew he had to do.

He had never felt so ashamed in his life as he did when he shook his head a little bit, making his black hair fall across his face. He remembered Annabeth had once told him that she had liked his hair like that. She had sort of swooped his hair to the side across his forehead and looked at him with a smile and blushed cutely.

Percy lifted his chin and looked defiantly into the Viking king's wild eyes.

_"He likes disorderly pretty boys like you,"_ Percy remembered the guard had told him. If that was the case, Percy was going to make it to his advantage. He was scared out of his mind, but he wasn't about to let it show.

It seemed to be working.

The king smiled and grasped around Percy's face with his large hand and pulled it up at an angle to have a better look.

The King did the same as the guard had done the night before, and checked Percy's teeth first. Then he let his finger trail across Percy's face. Percy felt the man's callous fingers against his own softer skin as he touched him. As the man's thumb let his finger glide over Percy's lips, he wanted to bite him and kick him in the groin, but he had to keep calm and swallow the shame if he wanted to get to the gate. He was not about to be brought back to the pole.

The Viking king murmured something into Percy's face, it was apparent that he liked what he saw. And Percy continued his little act of trying his best to look like an obnoxious pretty boy. He felt foolish and humiliated but it was working really well. The man didn't even finish the line, he simply nodded to Percy's guard. He had found his 'plaything'.

The guard handed Percy's chain over to the king's troll. The troll was given instructions and in the next moment Percy was slung across the trolls back, like a little rag doll, and carried away. The king remained with his two servants to pay or do whatever else one does in this kind of situation. All Percy knew was that he was on his way to a portal.

---

Percy was watching people coming and going out of the portal with a hammering heart. He was standing about 40 yards left of the opening together with the large troll that was holing his chain. A few minutes had passed. Percy didn't know when the king would be back, but he figured he didn't have much time.

The troll didn't look evil or mean spirited. He was a slave, just like Percy after all.

"Excuse me, sir?" Percy tried carefully. Hoping to get an answer. He got something better.

"Hello!" The troll said and smiled. Before he quickly pulled himself together and shook his head "Todd not allowed to speak to pretty plaything, Todd wait for Master!"

This was better than he'd thought, the troll was dumb as a rock, just like in the fairytales.

"You're very, very scary" Percy said while nodding, his eyes wide with fake admiration "I bet you're very strong too"

The troll blushed before smiling and nodding "Thank you, pretty girl. Actually... I am strong"

Percy decided to look past the gender error for now.

"Yes" Percy said. "I bet you could lift that rock even!" He nodded with his head over to a rock laying on the floor.

The troll followed his gaze, the rock was about the size of a car. He nodded "Yes, that is nothing. Todd is the strongest troll in the world, that's why Todd was picked by master." He looked proudly down at Percy. "Just like you're the prettiest plaything-girl of all the other playthings."

Apparently '_plaything_' meant human being in troll language.

"Can Todd lift the rock and show?" Percy asked.

"Yes!" The troll said excitedly.

_This is really bizarre_, Percy thought, but it was working and as the troll let go of Percy's chain to go and pick up the rock, Percy sprinted towards the portal.

---

Annabeth was watching her students train back at Half Blood Hill. Some of them had natural skills, while others were completely out of their depths. But Annabeth was a good teacher, she would get them all on the right path, and she was popular amongst the students.

Right then she was watching two of her most gifted students. It was a young girl and a boy, both of them about twelve years old. The girl had short brown curly hair and olive skin. She was beautiful and very talented. The boy was a little shorter, with black unruly hair. He was a bit clumsy but he held his ground against the beautiful girl.

Annabeth sighed. She knew who they reminded her of.

She couldn't believe that after 20 years, she was still longing for him. She felt so foolish. She was a grown woman who was still longing for a feeling she had experienced as a child. The sorrow over loosing Percy at age 16 had never left her. But at least she knew now that, had she been given a chance of re-living her childhood, and given the choice of meeting Percy or not, she knew now that the answer was yes. Even though she would never love again, or feel completely happy or whole, she would do it all again without blinking.

---

Percy was sprinting against the portal and as he leaped to jump though it, it was if he crashed into an invisible wall making him bounced back. He fell back and spun across the ground. He suddenly felt so weak, he hadn't eaten in about 48 hours, it was starting to get to him.

_GET UP!_ He demanded of himself. And he swallowed his nausea as he stumbled up to his unsteady feet. Not far off the troll had noticed the absence of the plaything and threw the rock to the side.

Percy ran for it again and "UNH!" He bounced back a second time. The troll was closing in on him. But Percy's vision was clouded, he wanted to close his eyes...

The arm that picked him up came out of nowhere.

It was a furrowed pale hand. It felt colder than ice when it grasped Percy's and pulled him up. He held him as Percy steadied himself.

Percy looked confused into the old man's kid eyes.

"I'm so tired..." Percy whimpered, his legs wanting to give in underneath him.

"The door is dragging strength out of you. Think of girl!" And the next thing Percy knew the old man stuck a gold coin in his pocket; his ticket out, and then he was pushed backwards though the portal. The last thing Percy could see was the old man smiling and then the troll's arms grasping in the air in front of him until his back hit the wet grass on Half Blood Hill and the portal, the troll and the old man was gone.

Percy lay breathing hard on his back in the grass, still clutching the gold coin in his hand. The sun was rising and the clouds were disappearing from the sky.

It was without even thinking that his legs started to move down the hill towards camp. He was exhausted and would have fainted hadn't the thought of seeing Annabeth pumped adrenaline into his system. He also thought about the old man and all the other people and creatures in the slave house who didn't deserve to be there. He needed to find Chiron and he needed to save them.

When he arrived at camp, everyone was enjoying breakfast out in the early morning sun. He recognized her curly blond hair immediately. She was sitting with her back to everyone; scraping her fork at her untouched plate.

Percy stumbled forwards between the tables. Bumping into people and knocking people's food trays over as he moved forward. His head was swimming and the chain around his neck felt so heavy, but he had one more quest to complete before he could rest.

***

*1 Snow Patrol

*2 Icelandic: "What are you doing"

---

_There's one more chapter, if you're still interested! It get's all fluffy and Percabeth again, wheee! But has Percy managed to get back in the right time?..._

_Thanks for reading! (:  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thanks again to the people who reviewed! And thanks for the suggestions too (: I've chopped this last chapter down quite a bit as I felt it was dragging with all the explanations as to whom everyone was etc. I didn't want it do be boring. But maybe I made the wrong choice and it feels a little rushed, idk... I might just add another chapter instead. I just really wanted to get to the Percabeth kiss! And last but not least I want to apologize for repeatedly misspelling the word 'customer' throughout the whole story. lol Next story I write I'll definitely try and get a beta. Anyways, thanks again for the r&r! Ok...... story:_

* * *

**_---Chapter 4: Jigsaw Falling Into Place---_**

Multiple yelling and things crashing against the ground made Annabeth turn her head. It sounded like a monster had been let loose and was tearing down the place. But she learned quickly that it was a teenage boy instead.

She scrunched up her face and shaded her eyes with her little hand against the early morning sun blinding her vision. It was clear that the boy was running for his life, and as it deemed on Annabeth that the boy was storming directly towards her she didn't hesitate to grab her sword.

From what she could tell the boy looked very pale, and his clothes were dirty and he was wearing a strange iron ring around his neck.

He didn't get very far however, before a satyr jumped out of no-where and tackled the boy to the ground. And in the next moment Chiron was there and threw a blanket over the boy and carried him away in his arms.

Annabeth was left bewildered; she thought she'd heard the boy call out her name. But how could he have known her? It was only her first year at Camp Half Blood.

* * *

_Recovery at Half Blood Hill, 14 year too early:_

* * *

Percy woke with a start and sat up in bed. Chiron was there by his side momentarily to calm him. He quickly explained that Percy had appeared 14 years too early.

It was a good thing, however, Chiron said, as he noticed the crushed look on Percy's face.

Because now they would have time to stop it earlier and Percy would have time to recover before returning to his old life. They just needed to keep him hidden from the people at camp in the meantime, especially Annabeth. So they kept him in a secret cabin far up in the woods, where several doctors and nurses took care of him. Chiron always at his side.

Percy had been in a world where time stood still and it was hard to determine exactly just how long he'd been gone. By Percy's estimations 48 hours had gone by, but it turned out he'd been gone longer than that. From the tiny particles sitting in the clothes Percy's had worn down in his cell, they were able to estimate the location of the slavehouse. And Percy drew a map of what he remembered from the inside, and gave them every little detail he could remember of the place, and they soon found the enormous slave house that had been the prison of millions of innocent people for endless centuries.

It wasn't without a struggle that Chiron had had to force Percy to rest, while worriors went to overtake the slave house. Percy had insisted he was fine and that he was ready to go back and help save the rest of the prisoners. And he was livid when Chiron didn't let him go. But Percy was malnourished and the psychological effect the experience had had on him needed to be worked through. He'd been tortured and humiliated and needed time to heal mentally and physically before he could to return to his old life.

The slave house was located in Jtunheimr*; _the land of giants_. It turned out that it had been run by cowardly trolls that fled without delay. Returning all the prisoners however, was the difficult part of the operation, as there wre so many. Chiron had to promise to Percy that he was going to let him come and help as soon as he recovered. This information seemed to inspire Percy to recover and finally relax a little.

And soon, Percy was ready to return.

* * *

_Going back:_

* * *

Percy was ready to go back to Half Blood Hill. To see Grover again, to go back to his cabin. And Annabeth.

_The 16 year old Annabeth,_ to be precise. And he knew exactly what to do when he saw her.

That night, Percy stood by the time portal with Chiron, clutching the gold coin the old man had given him in his hand. He was also holding his t-shirt that he'd been given by Grover and Annabeth 3 years ago, and would be given again in 6 years in this period of time. The last time he had jumped through the portal, it was the stress of the situation that had sent him on the wrong course. But like Chiron had said. Maybe it had been for the better. It didn't matter then. All percy knew was that he was healthy again, the slave house didn't exist anymore. The guards, the customers and monsters were being hunted down one by one and the prisoners were being taken care of. And soon Percy could go back too to do his part.

Percy smiled as he looked back at Chiron, "See you in a few hours!" He said and did a small salute with his hand.

"See you in five years!" Chiron winked, and in the next moment Percy was gone.

* * *

_About 2 hours in real time and a long shower later:_

* * *

"Hey, wisegirl" A familiar voice called from behind Annabeth.

"I'm not talking to you!" Annabeth retorted, but she felt her stomach flutter at his presence.

"Annabeth." Percy said softly and placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry for what I said before"

Annabeth turned to look up at him. His face was filled with regret.

He looked so sad.

Annabeth raised to her feet, and looked up into his face for a moment. Percy bit his lip nervously.

"I've brushed them" She finally teased and smiled, to show off her teeth. They were white and strait as usual. Percy looked down.

"Hey" Annabeth said and nudged his arm "It's OK!"

She curled her arms carefully around his neck and leaned into him. She could feel Percy's arms wrap around her gently, before he pulled her firmly into his body, lifting her a little off the ground. His embrace was strong and soft at the same time and his familiar scent was making her head swim.

"Friends?" Percy asked hopefully.

"Friends" Annabeth repeated smilingly, her voice a little muffled from speaking into Percy's shoulder.

"Come with me" Percy finally said when he put her down. "I've got something for you"

She let him take her hand and followed him down to the lake and into his cabin. She noticed that his grip on her hand was firm, like he was afraid she might run away. She wondered if something had happened there up on the hill, in the two hours that he'd been gone to make him act like this.

"Err... Thanks" Annabeth smiled when looking at the leather necklace with the golden coin attached in the middle. It kind of looked like Percy had made it himself, in about two minutes, with a shoelace and a weird old coin.

Which was true. Only the coin had more significance than she could ever have guessed.

"You don't have to wear it or anything" Percy mumbled as he put it in her hand. "Just promise me that you'll keep it as a lucky charm?"

But Annabeth insisted on wearing it and turned around and lifted her thick blond curls and Percy secured the necklace around her neck. When Annabeth turned back around to face Percy, her heart leaped a little at how close they were standing. She felt him taking her hand and leading her over to the bed. As he sat down, she followed, all the while looking into eyes.

A light wind brushed into the room, bringing with it the first autumn leaves of the season. And Percy pushed a blond curl away from Annabeth's face and smiled before leaning in.

His fingers raked into her hair and he tilted her head at an angle before closing his lips around hers. His mouth was soft and confident at the same time, and he tasted of something sweet, or salty. Annabeth couldn't quite identify it, but it tasted better than anything she'd ever tasted and it made her breath quicken.

Percy opened his mouth a little bit and Annabeth's bottom lip was between both of Percy's and she tilted her head to one side so she could tug at Percy's top lip. It felt full and soft in her mouth. THeir tongues rubbed together and Annabeth ran her hands up the back of Percys t-shirt and raked her fingers down his back making him exhale a breathy moan into her mouth.

It was all happening so naturally. Their bodies seemed to be in a silent agreement of every action that followed. They wanted to be close to each other. Percy released his grip on her, only for a second, to lift his arms above his head to let her pull his t-shirt over his head. As soon as the garment was gone he let himself fall back against the bed, pulling Annabeth down with him.

She nuzzled into the side of his neck and Percy pulled her close to him with his arm. They lay still like that for a moment.

"It's so good to be back" Percy murmured and quivered a little. He turned his head and kissed her forehead. "I've missed you so much"

"It's been two hours, Percy! What's gotten into you?" Annabeth giggled as she sat up on her elbow and looked down at him amused and perplexed. She wasn't about to complain, but along the way she wondered how they had gone from nearly being afraid of touching each other, to kiss this passionately.

"You're so beautiful" He said and ran his hands up the small of her back.

His eagerness made Annabeth smile and she leaned down to kiss his belly.

"That tickles!" Percy yelped in a high pitched tone, as her hair fell across his skin, and his lean stomach curved in a little bit as he drew in a sharp breath.

Annabeth laughed and cuddled up into his arms again. She watched the outline of his face with her eyes as he relaxed and closed his eyes. She had noticed a scar underneath his ribcage that she hadn't seen before. It looked almost... new.

She had this strange feeling that something had happened in the short time that Percy had been gone, but as she looked at him she noticed how relaxed and happy and comfortable he was. The questions would have to wait.

***


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I decided this story wasn't quite finished (: This chapter is a bit insane, but I hope I didn't go overboard *shifty eyes* And Kirby77DP77, I included the old man..._

* * *

**---An Encounter With the Past---**

**---  
**

It was an ordinary Thursday morning...

Well, not exactly. It was the opposite actually. It had been ordinary up until the point where Percy found himself running for his life through the woods with Todd the troll in his heels. He could hear the cracking of twigs and trees being pushed over behind him and it was as if the ground shook every time one of Todd's feet hit the ground.

Percy didn't know how long he'd been running, but he knew his legs would collapse soon. Adrenaline was the only thing pushing him forward together with the fact that a troll was chasing him.

The last time he'd seen the gigantic Troll was in the slave house, a memory that he'd been trying hard to forget. Five months had gone by. Annabeth had learned about the event, not every detail of course, just that Percy had been imprisoned for a while. She didn't know about the Viking king, or the birds or Todd... Percy still felt uncomfortable talking about it, even with Chiron. Percy just wanted to forget and pretend the whole thing had never happened. It wasn't working. As he was running now, it was like one of his nightmares had come true. His past had caught up with him, even though everyone had promised him that it was over. It clearly wasn't, Percy thought bitterly and continued running even though his legs were threatening to falter underneath him.

Percy had woken up that morning feeling fresh and excited. He'd managed to go one night without waking up drenched in sweat from dreaming about the birds. Later on he was going on a date with Annabeth. He'd planned everything. He was taking her up to a lake quite far up in the woods. It was close to the cabin he'd stayed at during his recovery. He was pretty sure she hadn't been there before. And it was warm, maybe they could go for a swim, he'd thought happily.

Percy had just wanted to go up there during the day alone and make sure that it was as nice as he remembered it.

Needless to say; he regretted that decision now.

Suddenly Todd had been standing there, in between the trees, just staring at him with his huge yellow eyes.

Percy's heart had nearly stopped by his sudden appearance.

_How the hell had he managed to come back?_ Percy thought all the portals had been destroyed...

This was as mush reflection Percy had time for before he turned on his heel and belted in the opposite direction. He'd run straight to the part of the forest where he remembered the woods growing thicker, hoping it would slow down the large clumsy troll. It had worked for a little while until the forest soon had spread out again. Percy knew he wouldn't be able to keep this pace up for much longer. The troll was twice his size and his strides twice as long.

When they reached a little grass field Percy's feet decided to give up and as they collapsed underneath him he crashed against the ground and rolled around until a rock stopped him from getting any further.

As Todd leaned over him Percy was just sort of laying there stunned for a moment groaning and trying to blink his eyes into focus.

"Plaything did a bad, bad thing!" Todd bellowed from above. He grasped around Percy's shirt and lifted him off the ground and held him up before his angry face.

"_Unhhh_..." Percy croaked, still not fully focused on what had just happened. The impact of the fall had made him nauseous and he thought he was about to be sick. He hung dangling in the air, panting while he stared into the trolls yellow eyes.

"Todd is very disappointed" The troll said, looking very disappointed indeed.

Percy felt the nausea rising in his mouth, making his eyes water and he fought to swallow it back down.

"Helloooo?!" The troll shouted annoyed, as he didn't get a response out of the boy. He shook Percy violently and in the next second he had sick all over his shirt.

* * *

Percy sighed.

He was tied to a tree, but at least he didn't feel sick anymore. The troll had dipped Percy's head in the lake before washing himself. Then he revealed what as inside his rucksack; a lot of ropes, which he had used effectively and tied up Percy to a large tree stem.

"Todd make sure masters plaything don't run this time!" He said, his voice was sad "Todd show master that Todd is not useless..."

The troll folded his hands and looked down to the ground and sighed deeply.

"What happened?" Percy asked the depressed troll.

"Master punished Todd for loosing pretty plaything!" A tear dripped from the trolls eye and he wiped it from his cheek before drying his enormous nose on his sleeve.

Percy actually felt bad for the troll. "I'm sorry about that..." He mumbled. There were deep scars across the trolls skin, he had clearly been tortured for his mistake.

"But... Isn't it better to be free?" Percy tried.

"Free?" The troll asked confused "Free is without purpose"

It was the most insightful thing Percy had heard the troll say, and for a short moment he was a little impressed. That all changed as Todd put up a mean spirited face.

"But all will be forgiven when Todd bring plaything back to master" He rummaged around his rucksack for yet another rope.

"I'm pretty sure I'm tied up enough" Percy said resignedly. He had a rope sloped around his chest, his knees and one little one around his wrists, just in case. It was safe to say Percy was in a tight spot.

"Plaything is very fast" The troll said, and Percy thought he heard a hint of awe at Percy's running abilities. _Clearly not fast enough,_ Percy thought to himself.

"You run fast for a girl at least" The troll continued.

Percy had forgotten about the gender issue and sighed.

"OK. First of all, my name is Percy" Percy exclaimed, "Second of all, I'm a _human being_, and I'm not a girl, I'm actually a boy, believe it or not"

Todd looked at Percy in disbelief, before he smiled and poked Percy in the stomach with a finger.

"Plaything is funny" Todd said and giggled. "But Todd is not dumb!"

"Ow..." Percy groaned "Just... Call me Percy ok? And stop poking please"

"Percy "Todd repeated, concentrating on the pronunciation. Then he held out his hand and said, "Todd, nice to meet you."

Percy looked at the trolls hand before looking back into his huge yellow eyes. "I'd love to shake your hand, but..."

The troll put his hand away quickly and blushed. "I forgot that I had tied you up, haha!" The troll laughed.

"Percy and Todd" The troll repeated happily.

"...Together at last" Percy mumbled, before clearing his voice; "Just out of curiosity, what're you going to do with me?"

The troll's mouth hung open for a moment as he scratched his head and tried to remember. It finally deemed on him and he nodded firmly "Going to make Percy cry just like Todd cried when master hurt him"

"I thought as much" Percy said depressed and he swallowed when he saw the knife Todd pulled out of his rucksack.

Todd had an IQ of a 2 year old but he was a faithful servant. He seemed fixed on punishing Percy and bring him back to his master so he could be forgiven and get his own position as a slave back. and the knife was sharp.

Todd lifted it up to Percy's face, the blade glinted a little in the light from the afternoon sun. Percy could feel his pulse quicken as panic rose.

"No no no!" Percy shouted, sounding frantic; his wide eyes set on the sharp blade only inches away from his face. "Todd mustn't ruin Percy's face, master will not be happy!"

"Oh" Todd said after a while and lowered his knife.

Percy took a deep breath. He just had to keep this up; he had to keep talking around Todd. Somebody at camp must notice his absence soon, he hoped.

The troll brought up his hand to Percys face and petted his cheek. His hand was larger than Percy's head. "Master would not like it if Todd ruined pretty face."

"No he wouldn't!" Percy said.

"But I need to punish." Todd said and lifted his knife again. He lifted Percy's t-shirt and put the blade to Percy's ribcage.

"You don't have to! Because I feel really bad for what I've done and I want to go back to Arvid and apologize so bad!" Percy stammered.

"Apologize?" Todd said surprised, raising his eyebrows.

"YES!" Percy nodded enthusiastically, "The thing is, I didn't _really_ run that day, I just wanted to say goodbye to my friends and family first! But I was coming right back!" Percy tried to look his most innocent.

"I promise" He croaked eventually.

A fool could see that he was lying through his teeth.

"Oh, I cant wait to go back to Arvid!" Percy finally exclaimed loudly and joyfully and he sighed happily and looked dreamily up to the sky, like he was longing for the horrible Viking king.

The troll gasped at this new information.

Then suddenly Todd started roaring with laughter. His eyes rolled back and he held his large belly as he laughed.

"Heh... Misunderstandings!" Percy said weakly and tried to smile, but he failed. His eyes were still fixed on the blade in the Trolls hand.

"Todd thought Percy had run away!" The troll said and wiped tears away from his eyes "Todd misunderstand all this time?"

"Shockingly, yes!" Percy mumbled, relaxing a little as the troll put his knife back.

"I knew Plaything... I mean _Percy,_ would do the right thing" Todd smiled affectionately.

"M-hm, you bet!" Percy nodded.

"I'm so happy!" The troll blurted and poked Percy with his finger again, making Percy gasp for air, but he nodded and smiled.

"Percy wait here and Todd will fetch master?" Todd's eyes were wide with enthusiasm. "And then we can both go back and everything will be ok and we will be safe with master?!"

"Yes!" Percy called out excitedly.

"I'm so happy!" The troll shouted. He was beside himself.

"Me too!" Percy said, "I... I want to hug you!"

"ME TOO!" The troll jumped and clapped his large hands.

He held out his arms ready to embrace Percy.

"But I want to put my arms around my friend!" Percy pointed out quickly and looked down at the ropes pressing into his skin all over his body. "You'll have to open these first"

"Aww..." the troll said and smiled tenderly. He used his knife to cut all the rope away from Percy. Percy was free. Todd leaned down and picked the boy into his arms.

"I love my human girl. Boy. _Friend_" The troll said as he hugged Percy tight.

_Boyfriend_, Percy wanted to correct him, but then he remembered how wrong that sounded. And he couldn't really object as he was busy trying to survive the hug and not be crushed to death by Todd's gigantic arms. Percy stumbled upon the ground a little bit as he was finally put down and had to lean against the tree for support.

"I'll just wait here and then you can go back and get master!" Percy breathed.

"Great!" Todd said as he picked up his stuff and pushed it down into the rucksack. He pulled out a gold coin of his pocket; the ticket needed for traveling through the portals.

Percy nodded and waved. " OK Bye! See you soon!"

As soon as the troll vanished though the time portal, Percy belted.

---

When he stood in Chiron's office some time after he was panting hard and struggling to get the information out. He kept pointing to the woods and looking terrified, frightening Annabeth and making Chiron look concerned.

He was given a tall glass of water, which he jugged down before leaning forwards on his knees. "Todd!" He wheezed "...He is back!"

Chiron's face fell immediately and Annabeth looked confused at the both of them for answers. "Who is Todd?"

"My new boyfriend apparently" Percy said depressed before looking anxiously at Chiron, "You didn't close all the portals"

Annabeth gaped at Chiron, since Percy wasn't making any sense "His boyfriend?"

Chiron closed his eyes for a moment and said, "I was contacted by an old man this morning, trying to warn me about this. I Didn't take him seriously I'm afraid" Chiron admitted.

"An old man?" Percy said "What did he look like?"

"He was standing by the gate entrance, making a ruckus. He had a white beard and a strange robe. I didn't think that it could b_e that old man_" Chiron's eyes were full of regret as he looked at Percy. "Percy, tell me everything. It's time to fix this once and for all, but you have to be completely honest about every detail"

Percy fell into a chair and nodded.

***


End file.
